(#27) / The Far Side Observer / by Gary Larson / (Book)

Opening

Bibliographic Information:

The Far Side Observer / by Gary Larson

ISBN-13: 978-0836220988 / Andrews McMeel Publishing

p. 104/ $9.99 (Amazon)

1987

Body of Content 

Summary: The Far Side is a comic strip that features one-box, one-off entries – as opposed to multi-box, serialized comics like Garfield or Peanuts.  Often, the premise of the cartoon resides below the picture, which helps the reader understand the basic notions, setting, occasion of the humorous attempt.  Larson’s content contains references to pop culture, anthropomorphic assertions, historical do-overs, along with themes of psychology and science. Cartoonist Larson contains his own unique artistic style – particularly with human characters that visually represent an unpolished uniformity to them.  Some cartoons contain only a handful of words; other entries contain a brief paragraph of dialogue.  This particular volume of work is a collection of early comics (more accurately, the eighth collection) from the syndicated series – totaling a little over a hundred individual entries.     

Critique: Many of the comic entries have anthropomorphic notions and dialogue attached to them.  Larson draws animals in human settings – and then he points out the absurd parallels.  One entry has a group of penguins standing around a dead penguin (like at a crime scene) – with a penguin plainly stating, “He’s dead, all right – beaked in the back … and, you know, this won’t be easy to solve” (1987, p. 11).  As a premise, Larson points out the uniformity of penguins (i.e. the indistinguishableness of their black-and-white appearances) and he does so in other comics, too (cf. 1987, p. 53). 

Often, the humor draws parallels between human and animal kingdoms.  For instance, one entry shows a woodchuck staring into an open refrigerator – staring at various sizes of sticks and logs (1987, p. 36) – thus showing the commonality of late-night meals between the species. 

Virtually any animal (snake, shark, chicken, etc.) can serve Larson’s musing.  One cartoon shows chickens standing in a circle around a cooked turkey – with the chickens wearing hoods, only beaks visible – then contains just two words for a premise: “Chicken cults” (1987, p. 91).  In this way, Larson alludes to animals having religious capacities – clearly a human activity – thus an example of anthropomorphism.      

Teaser: “A collection of comics – random and humorous – one The Far Side comic demonstrates that even penguins need their C.S.I. skills – if they’re going to solve this fowl murder.”

Information about the Author: The Far Side is the brain child of Gary Larson – who, now retired, wrote the comic syndicated strip in the 1980s and 1990s.  Over the years, Larson generated enough material for 23 compilation books – selling over 45 million copies.  Although the series ended in 1995, Larson released a compilation calendar (one-comic-per-day) in 2006 that accumulated 3 million in total sold units.  Larson is an animal enthusiast – and contains a fervent belief in the conservation and protection of endangered species – leading him to donate $2 million dollars from the calendar project to a like-minded charity – Conservation International – which protects endangered tigers, elephants, crocodiles, etc. throughout southeastern Asian countries (Weise, 2006).        

Supplemental Material

Genre: Humor

Curriculum Ties: Art – drawing, humor, dialogue  

Booktalking Ideas: 1) Looking for random, cerebral, and/or comic musings? The Far Side really does come from the far side of reality.

Reading Level: The jokes have a certain cerebral quality to them – requiring older teens as an audience – to begin to appreciate them. Best for latter ages (16-19).

Challenge Issues and Defense: Challenges are always possible for humor genre – as a joke may not lend itself to everyone’s social mores, etc.  The comic strip does contain some sexual innuendo – but the language is pretty safe.  The humor genre also protects the work – since works involving satire are often viewed more generously.  

Personal Reasons for Inclusion: A thoroughly funny comic strip, The Far Side is a cult classic.  

Last Thoughts

References:

Weise, E. (2006). Larson is drawn to the wild side [Newspaper article]. Retrieved from

http://www.usatoday.com/life/2006-11-20-larson-cover-usat_x.htm

Listening to (Music):

Artist – Meredith Andrews / Album – “As Long As It Takes”